Rig alarm set-up not unusual, says Transocean

A Transocean technician on the Deepwater Horizon drilling told an investigative panel Friday an alarm system was partially shut down on the day the rig exploded, but the company says that’s not unusual for many ships at sea.

Mike Williams said a three-way alarm system to warn of fire, explosive gas and toxic gas was turned on to monitor conditions, but its sound and light alarms had been disabled. He said he was told the set up was because the company “didn’t want people looking up at 3 a.m. to a false alarm.”

But the set-up of the alarms wasn’t a safety oversight or “done as a convenience,” according to Transocean.

In a statement, the company said the alarm configuration “was intentional and conforms to accepted maritime practices, including those on some Navy and Coast Guard vessels.”

According to the company:

“The alarm system on every large maritime vessel, including the Deepwater Horizon, is zone based. The Deepwater Horizon had hundreds of individual fire and gas alarms, all of which were tested, in good condition, not bypassed and monitored from the bridge.

The general alarm is controlled by a person on the bridge and sounded from there, only when conditions require. This is an option on each individual vessel designed to prevent the general alarm from sounding unnecessarily when one of the hundreds of local alarms activates for what could be a minor issues or a non-emergency.

Repeated false alarms increase risk and decrease rig safety.”

Below are a few pages from an inspection report on the rig from early April 2010 that notes the alarm systems were working properly.

Williams testified he had no warning of the blast before it occurred, according to AP:

The rig’s drilling room also had chronic computer problems, including one computer that carried the nickname “the blue screen of death,” he said

Williams said the computer had a 1990s operating system and was subject to periodic failure.

Williams also said the Deepwater Horizon was to be sent to a shipyard for extensive repairs. He said he was told the rig would be there for an extended time because “it was in very bad shape.”